Official 2016 Free Agency Thread

I do not believe Horford wants to come to LA.

 

If we can get a legit center option here, I'd say this FA period was pretty successful.

 

One that could actually roll to the hoop with force, catch the ball, and finish!

 

we'll see how many max contract offers he gets other that LA

 

Currently, there are two teams that need Whiteside and can offer a max contract at 12:01am. Dallas and the Lakers. What I mean by give a max contract is they do not have to worry about the other things on the team like Charlotte, Miami or even Portland to some extent.

 

Dallas? L.A. with what we got going on? Where's the hard decision?


Signed the Homer

 

Completely agree with this. With the amount of cap we have, we can look much better with quick decisive signings while leaving that last spot open.

 

After reading this Bleacher piece about Hassan and his coming up story:

http://thelab.bleacherreport.com/from-forgotten-to-coveted/

it's going to be absolutely ESSENTIAL that we nag a veteran big man to really show him the ropes of work ethic and focus. Seems like he has a Roy Hibbert complex about him that he's trying break away from, but needs guidance. Roy never really had that, and thus, never really broke that mold.

Someone like a David West type of guy would be an excellent mentor for him.

 

Whiteside definitely has some maturity issues, but I don't really buy the entire he doesn't work hard argument. He really came from nothing when he first came into the league and he's become of the most dominant defensive presences in the league and an elite level center. He's probably the third best behind Cousins and Drummond. I don't think you go on that type of rise without working your butt off.

Whiteside should still be a priority. At the end of the day none of these free agents other than perhaps Durant are without questions. Horford is over 30 and comes up small in the postseason. Batum has been up and down in his career. Barnes really struggled in the second half of the season and postseason. Deng is past his prime. You can cherry pick any one of reasons to not sign a guy.

End of the day this dude makes us much, much better. He gives us a shot blocker, a pick and roll player, somewhat of a low post presence, a rebounder, and one of the most athletic bigs in the game. He's exactly the kind of player we wanted to play with D'Angelo. Whiteside is a no brainer.

 

I still don't think Horford has any interest in LA.

I don't think Whiteside would lose value even if he turns out to be a cancer type player.

Case in point: DMC

If he doesn't pan out, I definitely think there are teams willing to take on his risks still because he still will be a productive player.

This is also his chance to show his maturity, and really be a leader on this team, as strange as it sounds. If he can grow with our young core and develop alongside them, play patiently, we could be a very dangerous team in 2-3 years easily.

 

With Walton at the helm, I believe he can use some of the zen he learned not only from Phil but his own pops on dealing with the culture of a player. Lakers need his skill set. Lakers need his skill set and it worth dealing with some of the negatives to get the overall need executed.

 

Although I knew Durant was a pipe and we basically had no chance of signing him, it does sting a little bit that he won't even consider meeting with us just to hear what we have to say. Be that as it may, I don't blame him. He's after a championship and we're not even close to offering that.
That being said, I agree that we will be better next season. Even if we don't land our top choices, if we can at least get some solid veterans to play with our youngsters, I can live with that. I really want to see what these guys have to offer and if they can make significant strides, we could be more attractive next season.

 

Horford in NY wouldn't be a bad destination either.

With Lopez gone, they're in need of a starting center. Zing can provide the length that Horford lacks defensively.

Rose
SG
Melo
Porzingis
Horford

Not for a lack of talent, it's a decent starting core in the East.

 

If we were to somehow land Batum, is the consensus we have hit a low screamer out of the park deep center field for fit in our coming Luuke / improved-GS-but-less-jacked-3-point-shots-under-pressure-hopefully offense.....as opposed to the max money being given to DeRozan or Barnes instead? I have kind of gotten that impression from many here.... just that it's not likely?

Maybe that's because he is restricted? Or maybe that's because we are the Lakers and have had the last 3 seasons on our record?


If it's possible I keep expectin' that Luuke is "key" sitting at the bargaining table.